LONDON, UK: Johnson Matthey has agreed to divest its Gold and Silver Refining business to Asahi Holdings Inc, a collector, refiner and recycler of precious and rare metals from waste materials, for £118 million ($186 million) in cash, subject to typical post-closing adjustments. The transaction is expected to be completed by the end of March 2015.

Johnson Matthey’s Gold and Silver Refining business is a refiner of primary and secondary gold and silver materials. It serves customers globally from refineries in Salt Lake City, US and Brampton, Canada. The business also provides investment casting services from its St Catharines facility in Canada. In total, the business employs approximately 340 people.

“The divestment of the Gold and Silver Refining business is in line with our long term strategy to focus on areas where we can use our expertise in chemistry and its applications to deliver high technology solutions or that provide a strategic service to the wider Johnson Matthey group,” said Robert MacLeod, Chief Executive, Johnson Matthey.